Milwaukee Talks: Mark Borchardt, 2000

Things are moving
along pretty quickly in the life of Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Just six
months ago, the Menomonee Falls native was designing shutters in a factory, working
10 hours a day. "Now I'm at Target signing people's receipts," he says.

If
you haven't already heard the hype or seen the critically acclaimed film, Borchardt
is the centerpiece of the documentary, "American Movie." Having won the Sundance
Film Festival's Grand Jury Award and now showing around the country, the movie
is a couple years in the life of Milwaukee's least likely new celebrity.

Now Borchardt is on tap to be David Letterman's 2000 election correspondent.
"Letterman saw American Movie and told his people to get me on," says Borchardt.
His good showing eventually landed him the big gig. But was he nervous about this
"audition?"

"Well, you don't touch anything to drink the day of the show,"
says Borchardt in that candid voice that made "American Movie" so unique. "At
least I don't. You're not so much nervous about going on Letterman. Regis Philbin
was on before me, and you want to keep some kind of consistency with Regis in
the show biz department. But I think it went well."

Apparently it went well
enough. Letterman asked him if he wanted the job, and of course, Borchardt accepted
it. "I was going to go up to New Hampshire for a few weeks to interview all the
political candidates. But with Letterman's bypass operation, that may put a delay
in the political correspondence. They are going to run re-runs for a while, and
then he'll be back. If it works well, then I might do it up to the election."

Borchardt
says all this new publicity has put a small dent in his efforts to work on his
new film and future masterpiece, Northwestern, which is the subject of the first
half of "American Movie."

"I'm in the middle of the fifth draft," explains
Borchardt. "But with all this American Movie and Coven publicity, creative time
is few and far between. But I'm taking certain steps to geographically separate
the two projects."

To that end, sales of Borchardt's first film, Coven (pronounced
COH-ven), are brisk.

Says Borchardt, "Sales of Coven are moving along. As
soon as I get the orders out, I have another 100 to fill. I guess you have to
be careful what you wish for."

The low-budget horror movie has created quite
a following, and Borchardt says Coven is playing various gigs around the country.
It premiered at the Times Theater in June, and the film soon started receiving
reviews from around the country.

Then came American Movie. "American Movie
came across like a tidal wave, superceding any efforts I could have made," says
Borchardt. "But one hand feeds the other. American Movie wouldn't exist without
Coven and vice versa."

Coven is doing well enough that Borchardt says he
is prepping for its DVD release.

Through all this recognition, Borchardt
has remained the consummate Milwaukee guy. "I have enough money to move to Hollywood.
I just came back from New York this weekend. But I have no intention to move.
There's nothing that Hollywood can offer me that I can't get right here."

Says
Borchardt, "My heart and my soul is with Northwestern, and nothing will ever rob
me of that. If it's the last thing I do, (completing the film) will happen."

Anything
else keeping Borchardt in town? "There's enough women here in Milwaukee," he says,
and people have responded to his work very positively.

Publicly, people
have been very supportive of Coven. Borchardt says criticism has come "in more
veiled way, like on the Internet or in print. Some people may not have the passion
we have."

But the critical acclaim of American Movie and Coven have been
quite pleasing to Borchardt, as well. "I was reading a review in the Minnesota
City Pages about Coven, and I'm really enjoying it," explains Borchardt. "Coven
was a film made with Pabst Blue Ribbon. The goal was to sell 3,000 copies. That
has been accomplished. You can tear it apart, but it was a labor of love and an
instrument to make Northwestern."

As always, Borchardt is most appreciative
of the filmmakers of American movie, Chris Smith and Sarah Price. "All this couldn't
have happened without Chris and Sarah, working over five years and being broke."

Says
Borchardt, "We had no ideas that this would happen. The odds we're insurmountable.
But we never quit. We worked for this, man."

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